2 Great Options For Building a DIY Fishing Rod Holder

Need a fishing rod holder to keep your fishing rods safe? Check out these options for a safe, easy solution.

A fishing rod holder is not something every fisherman thinks about, especially if you are just a casual fisher with just a couple of fishing rods. But actually, that makes it even more important that you have a safe convenient place to store your fishing rods. If you only have one or two rods and they get accidently broken, you lose your ability to fish.

So, instead of just throwing your rod and reel over in the corner of the garage, or behind the door to get broken or fall, check out these two options for building a quick, easy, and cheap DIY fishing rod holder.

Both options use one of my favorite materials, PVC pipe which can be used for a number of hunting and fishing projects, and can be made very quickly and easily. Both of these options are designed for ceiling mount storage. They can be altered slightly to be changed into a wall mount, but I personally believe that a ceiling mount is safer because there is less chance of something falling on or hitting the rods while they are in storage.

OPTION 1

PVC on Wood

This is probably the simplest DIY fishing rod holder to make, and it is definitely the cheapest, but could take the most time to build.

Materials:

2″ PVC pipe (length depends on number of rods needed)

Either 2″x4″ or 1″x4″ lumber (length depends on number of rods needed)

Saw

Drill

1/2″ Screws

Build:

This is a build that is very simple but can be time consuming. What you want to do is build two boards with PVC fittings on each side. One side will have a section of closed pipe and the other will have a matching set of open pipe for the tip. This will alternate so that the reels are on opposing sides.

Start by cutting your PVC into small pieces. Anywhere from 5″ to 6″ inches per piece. You will need two pieces for each rod you plan to hang.

Now you need to pre-drill holes in the individual pipes to attach them to the wood board. Find the center of your pipes and drill all the way through, making sure you get to both sides. This will make attaching the PVC to the wood much easier.

Next you will take one of the two pieces and cut out a 1/2″ section lengthwise out of the side of the pipe. You don’t want to take too much, just enough so that you can easily get the tip of your rod in from the side. Make sure you don’t cut from where your pilot holes are, you should cut from the side not the bottom.

Now you just need to attach the pieces to the wood board. Leave as much room as you think necessary to be able to get your rods in and out easily. I recommend at least six inches on center for each pair. You should alternate from solid pipe to cut pipe on each board making sure that they match up to form a pair.

Once you have them screwed in place you are ready to attach the wood to the ceiling and put your DIY fishing rod holder is ready to go to work.

More from Wide Open Spaces:

OPTION 2

This is a great option if you just have a few rods to store. It is quick and easy to build and you don’t have to spend a lot of time giving each rod an individual home.

Materials:

3/4″ PVC pipe

90-degree elbow pipe fittings

90-degree cross-tee pipe fittings

90-degree tee pipe fittings

Metal pipe strap

PVC Primer & Glue

Saw

Screws

Build:

This one is a very simple build. All you are really doing is cutting the PVC pipe to length and attaching the fittings. I recommend using PVC primer and glue on at least the main fittings since all the weight of the rods will be trying to pull the pipes apart. The instructions here will be for building a single “tree” of the DIY rod holder. It is up to you how many “trees” you use. You will obviously need at least two, but you can add three or even four to help support your rods. You can also add more branches to your trees if you need to make room for extra rods.

First you need to cut your PVC. The exact measurements are up to you but I recommend eight inches from the ceiling to the first branches (so you need three pieces that are eight inches long), and then 12 inches for the next (three pieces that are 12 inches). This ensures that you have enough room to get your rods in and out of the rod holder.

Next attach the fittings to form the tree. Use your 90-degree tee fitting at the very top of the tree; this is how you will attach the tree to the ceiling and start working your way down. You will need a 90-degree cross-tee fitting at the bottom of the eight-inch pipe and you will add your branches from here as well as continue the tree further down with the 12-inch piece.

On the end of your branches you will place the 90-degree elbow fittings. These will keep the rods from inadvertently slipping off the sides of the tree.

Once you have everything in place and it looks good, just take it apart, glue it up and stick it back together. Once the glue has had time to set use your metal pipe strap to attach each tree to the ceiling and your DIY rod holder is complete.